Atwater City Council selects new commissioners

The positions of 15 Atwater city commissioners were whittled down to seven, as the City Council selected the panel of a newly formed commission during a special meeting this month.

Some familiar faces made it on the new Community Development and Resources Commission – which combined the parks and recreation, planning and traffic commissions into one – while more experienced commissioners didn’t make the cut.

The new commissioners are Mary McWatters for a one-year term; Don Hyler III for two years; Gary Brice, Linda Dash and Ron Daugherty for three-year terms; Eric Lee and Adam Reed for four years.

Atwater City Manager Frank Pietro said 11 people applied for the seven commissioner seats. The candidates were interviewed and ranked by three City Council members and Mayor Joan Faul on Oct. 13. Councilman Joe Rivero did not participate.

The applicants were ranked from 1 to 11 by each of the council members and mayor. Those who earned the most points were given longer terms on the commission. The point totals were: 38 for Reed; 34 for Lee; 32 for Dash; 30 for Brice; 25 for Daugherty; 23 for Hyler III; 17 for McWatters.

During a previous City Council meeting, Councilman Jeff Rivero pushed to ban people who sit on other current committees from serving on the new commission. Rivero said the idea, which was approved by the City Council, was to prevent the same people from dominating the city’s panels.

Two people had conflicts – Lee and Dash – because they sit on the Measure H oversight committee. Both Lee and Dash have resigned their positions on the Measure H committee, Pietro said.

Longtime Atwater resident Jimmie Davis, 73, applied for a spot on the new commission and said he’s “very disappointed” at not being selected. Davis previously served five years on the planning commission and three years on the traffic commission.

“Every person from the planning commission they put on there had experience less than two years,” Davis told the Sun-Star. “There’s no doubt I have more qualifications than any of them on there.”

Davis, a licensed plumber, said his experience allowed him to ask detailed questions about plans. Still, two council members gave Davis a ranking of 1 – the lowest possible score.

In other business, the City Council earlier this month discussed the costs associated with putting Measure Q – an initiative that establishes 12-year term limits for the mayor and council members – on the election ballot next week.

Councilman Joe Rivero told the council during the Oct. 13 council meeting he was told by the Elections Office it will cost nearly $50,000 to get the item on the ballot.

Merced County Registrar of Voters Barbara Levey estimated placing the initiative on the ballot will cost less than a dollar per voter because the costs of the General Election are split between other municipalities. Atwater has just under 11,000 voters in the city.

This story was originally published October 29, 2014 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Atwater City Council selects new commissioners."